Are the Saints going into 2020 too top heavy? Terry Wallace is concerned by their potential line-up, with Paddy Ryder on his way to club.
The Power ruckman has requested a trade to the Saints, but with top draft pick Max King set to enter the team next year as well, the Australian football Hall of Famer worries about how they will balance everybody.
“Paddy Ryder in is the other interesting one for me. You’ve got Rowan Marshall there. To me, Paddy Ryder has always wanted to be a main ruckman, not a forward,” Wallace told Telstra AFL Trade Radio.
“I think Marshall is a rising star ruckman of the competition, they’ve finally got their man as a ruckman, and now they’re bringing Ryder in? Does he become the number one ruckman, does he become a forward/ruck where he has never sort of settled down?
“I worry about that having another 200cm player in your forward structure already (in Max King).
“How do you play Marshall, Ryder, King and Tim Membrey in the same side? It’s a structure that I don’t get.
“All of that and we haven’t even discussed Paddy McCartin, who was a pick one in the draft.
“I just don’t see how they’re going to service those blokes to get the best out of them. Have they put up a line through McCartin? It all still doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
“Josh Bruce basically has to (leave) and I don’t know where that leaves McCartin.”
Former Port Adelaide midfielder Kane Cornes believes Ryder simply must accept that he will primarily be a forward at Moorabbin.
“I don’t have an issue with the Ryder acquisition. Marshall is the number one ruckman and bringing in Ryder, I’m sure the discussions around getting him to the club were that you are the second ruckman, you’re there to provide a target in the forward line if we need that,” he said.
“As long as Ryder keeps his chin up and plays forward when required because I know he was not happy as a forward target at Port Adelaide and having Scott Lycett ahead of him at the ruck.”
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Listen to the full discussion on St Kilda below